Personal care products (PCPs) are used for daily health care, refreshment, cosmetology, and disinfection etc. The compounds or products may be disposed improperly then enter the environment. Although the concentrations of PCPs were usually at trace amount in waters, it is still a concern on their potential adverse effects on aquatic creatures and human health. This project targeted 21 critical chemicals at eight categories, including eight analgesics, four hormones, two ingredients in detergent/disinfectant, two agents in suntan lotions, two preservatives in cosmetics, one repellent, one stimulant, and one health food with herbal medicine. A method to extract them from water and followed by the determination using ultra-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) with electrospray ionization (ESI) has been developed and validated. Water samples were extracted with 50 mm PolarPlus C18 speedisk using automatic solid phase extraction system. The eluent was concentrated to barely dryness and re-dissolved by methanol/water (1:4, v/v). Analytes forming positive ions were separated on a UPLC HSS T3 column (50 × 2.1 mm, 1.8 μm), and chemicals forming negative ions were done on a UPLC BEH C18 column (50 × 2.1 mm, 1.7 μm). Water samples were collected from 21 representative points of three main streams in the middle of Taiwan. In addition, wastewater samples from influents, after primary treatment, and effluents were grabbed from two wastewater treatment plants in Northern Taiwan. The compounds of ibuprofen, acetylsalicylic acid, fenoprofen, nonylphenol (NP), oxybenzone, DEET, caffeine, methyl paraben, and butyl paraben were detected in more than 76% of surface water samples. The highest concentrations found were ibuprofen 1,483 ng/L; NP 837 ng/L; oxybenzone 783 ng/L; and caffeine 3,007 ng/L. Thus, PCPs would have been widely distributed in rivers of middle Taiwan. The highest concentrations found in influent were acetaminophen and caffeine, which were 7,509 and 10,928 ng/L, respectively in a plant as well as 6,866 ng/L and 22,966 ng/L, respectively in the other plant. However, acetaminophen and caffeine could be effectively removed, especially at plant B (>99%).

Personal care products；LC/MS/MS；Sewage；surface water；Solid-phase extraction